I'm all a bit new-money in ye olde-money worlde of wrytyng and publyshyng. Having zero literary education and being the worst-read language-user on the proverbial block will do that to you.
However, being well and truly beyond the hallowed walls of The Establishment has afforded me the perspicacity to notice that those who have paid good money for education in these fields, and then slaved at cadet language jobs for a pittance, tend to rail against the babes-in-arms flocking to the professions of writing and editing now that the web has allowed all manner of associated roles to proliferate.
It's as if the grumping old-timers fear that newcomers to the industry can somehow ensure that all the hard yards they put in amount to nothing. As if newcomers—people who treat the job as a job, rather than a sort of calling-from-on-high—are irreverently undermining the nobility of the written word.
In the last three days I've encouraged no fewer than three separate individuals to leap forth into the wonderful world of web writing and editing. (I've also heard much bitching about new writing, new-media writers, new content formats, and, well, new in general.) I have no idea whether these people have a faculty with written language, the pernicketiness required for the job, and/or the passion that might actually see them enjoy the work. But they were all interested, so why the fuck not?
As far as I can see, the only reason that dinosaur stalwarts could have for discouraging such endeavour would be if we felt threatened by the willingness of bright young things to undercut our rates and turn out better work for the dollars. If that's your worry, you might as well pack up your dictionaries and go home now. Otherwise? Language-slave snobs, STFU.
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